Prothera
World: Prothera *'Location: 'Core Worlds *'Type: '''Recovering War World *'Tithe:' Nix The reconstruction efforts leave nothing to spare *'Population: 400 million 000 000 *'''Government: Military Dictatorship. Imperial Commander Justinian Maximus is the de facto Governor of Prothera at present. Prior to the Fall of Prothera the world was ruled by a democratic government. 'Description' A huge planet once dedicated to growing food for the Core Worlds of the Sector Deus, Prothera used to enjoy a stable and relatively pleasant way of life. One Protheran year is roughly equal to 3.42 Terran years. This, combined with mild, terraformed and constantly controlled climate allowed local to take from 12 to 14 harvests per year. Each harvest had a symbolic meaning in local folklore and was heavily celebrated. Today Prothera is a devastated world recovering from its near-destruction. Such dramatic change happened in 326.M41, when it was invaded by Red Giants in the Fall of Prothera (see below), who destabilised its climate using Weather Cathedral that they later destroyed. In 332.M41 the Ghosts of Retribution restored the weather cathedral and Prothera's climate began slowly recovering, however infrastructure remained shattered. The Administratum was contacted and they moved to restore Imperial order on Prothera. Commander Justinian quickly took control of the entire planet after his rivals were eliminated, and Prothera is slowly rebuilding. Civilisation hasn't quite returned to everyone though and roving groups of bandits are still a major problem for isolated villages & settlements, as are dangerous packs of grox that bred in the wild after the Fall of Prothera. The current Administratum focus is on rebuilding Auctumnus and key plantary infrastructure, such as starports and agri-transportation systems. As such they have permitted the give away of large swathes of 'low-priority' land to private interests, on the condition that said private interests invest in repairing the land and pay a tax on any production. As of 350.M41 some of the private interests have resumed exports, most notably vineyards that produce famous Protheran Wine. *'Technology: '- Imperial Prothera was never special among other planets in technological regard, probably the most arcane mechanism on the planet is the Weather Cathedral, an archeotech climate control outpost manned by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The availability of technology collapsed after the Fall of Prothera and much of the planet was forced to regress, having to use hand tools for farming and log burners for heat. Since the Imperial reconstruction began technology is slowly being restored but only to major population centres, leaving many of the outlying towns & settlements without access to vital technologies. *'Military:' Weak. Though the planet is reunited under Justinian and is slowly rebuilding in all facets, the military forces of Prothera have yet to recover. *'Strategic importance: 'Minima A recovering world with little supporting infrastructure, Prothera no longer plays the vital role it once did in Sector Deus. *'Loyalty: '75% Prothera is a devout Imperial world, but despite that from time to time there are rumours of heretical underground movements that are born because of weak state control on the population. The population bears great hate towards all Space Marines, because they are associated with the downfall of their world. 'Notable Locations' Aside from some small polar regions to the far north and south of the planet, and small deserts around the equator, almost all of Prothera's surface is mild, sun-drenched landscape perfect for agriculture. A few cities tarnish the landscape here and there, but much of the vast farmland is interspersed only with small towns and villages that tend to their surrounding lands dutifully. *'Auctumnus '- The planetary capital and a small, developing hive. Auctumnus was the chief target of the Red Giants during the Fall of Prothera and was catastrophically damaged, however it is now in the process of being rebuilt. Immediately following the collapse of planetary government this city was ruled by a clique of powerful former-politicians who were in fact being influenced by Ashkenor the Wrathbringer, cared not for democracy, and were only trying to grab power. The Sorcerer's influence ended when he departed the planet in late 332.M41, and Commander Justinian took control soon after. Notable locations in Auctumnus: **'Planetary Palace' - Formerly the world's houses of parliament, it now serves as the absolute ruler's headquarters. It is currently also home to large amounts of Administratum personnel who are overseeing the recovery of the world. Notable inhabitants: ***'Imperial Commander Justinian Maximus' - Former PDF commander who rallied surviving Protherans after the disaster and kept them secure. He is an immensely popular leader who easily took control of the planet after his chief rivals were eliminated. ***'Master of Prothera Igrat Dorne' - Master of the planet's Administratum. Dorne narrowly escaped the Fall of Prothera on one of the last evacuation ships and has since returned to oversee the planet's recovery. ***'Undermaster Targus Bratt' - Head of the Departmento Fabricatum on Prothera. Bratt is the Adept in charge of requisitioning & assigning building materials & labour to the many construction projects that need to be done on Prothera. *'Virilis '- A major city known for it's numerous White Preacher churches. Following the Fall of Prothera it was ruled by a powerful and brutal warlord named Keighan, a former farmer who believed it was his manifest destiny to rule Prothera. In 336.M41 Keighan was assasinated, removing Commander Justinian's main rival and allowing him to consolidate almost complete power over Prothera. Unfortunately large amounts of Keighan's army scattered into the wilderness following his death, and they continue to plague settlements as roving gangs of bandits. *'Edgevale' - A large town located approximately two thousand miles from Auctumnus with nothing but farmland between it and the capital. Edgevale's modest population once farmed colossal amounts of the surrounding farmland with their enormous harvesters and ploughs, but during the Fall of Prothera their only connection to the rest of the world - a high speed rail line direct to Auctumnus - was destroyed. Left unable to export their agri, but also unable to import things like medicine, spare parts and technical expertise, Edgevale's machines fell into disrepair and the population began to wither. Many thousands of Edgevale's inhabitants attempted to make their way to Auctumnus in half-fuelled autos and on foot, though how many made it is still unknown. In 351.M41 the Rogue Trader Antonius Edgar Celentis laid claim to Edgevale and began rebuilding it, starting with the rail line and electricity supply, and provided badly needed medicines for the remaining populace. *'Edgevale Airbase' - Located approxmimately one hundred miles north of Edgevale (also known as the middle of nowhere), this isolated air base was the sole anti-orbital defence for the massive regions of farmland. A small group of Red Giants made planetfall on Edgevale Airbase during the Fall of Prothera, and massacred the base's inhabitants while their tainted craft blasted imperial interceptors from the sky. *'Shrine of St. Mathew' - A chapel in the middle of an equatorial desert dedicated to Mathew the Peacebringer. It was desecrated by the Red Giants during the Fall of Prothera. *'Archeotech Weather Cathedral' - An ancient structure in the Northern mountains capable of controling Protheran planetary climate and weather patterns. Currently functioning properly after the Ghosts of Retribution repaired it from damage sustained during the Fall of Prothera. *'Northern mountains' - A masssive mountain range close to the northern pole. *'Lastum '- A new city which arose near the Northern mountains after the disaster struck Prothera. The nearby mountains sheltered it from most of the storms, helping people rebuild at least partial civilisation. It was founded and ruled by Imperial Commander Justinian Maximus until he managed to take control of the entire planet, and it has since been fortified further and designated as an important refuge for use in the future. History 326.M41 - The Fall of Prothera In 326.M41 the traitor forces of the Red Giants, under command of Ashkenor the Wrathbringer, assaulted the world of Prothera. Over 100 Chaos Space Marines and thousands of cultists inserted directly into the planet's major cities of Auctumnus and Virlis via a swarm of landing craft. Though there were relatively few overall casualties in the face of the small attacking force, Prothera's PDF was quickly thrown into disarray as the dangerously organised Chaos Marines destroyed strategic targets like the planetary HQ with pinpoint precision, and while the planet's uncoordinated forces were engaged with lesser cultists the Chaos Marines themselves plotted a far more nefarious deed. Shortly after the initial attack the Ghosts of Retribution arrived in the system, responding to the world's call for aid. The Ghosts quickly made planetfall with over 400 Marines but despite their numerical superioirty failed to prevent the heretics from causing severe damage to Prothera's weather cathedral and plunging the climate into a downward spiral that would, unless halted, result in a complete ice age. As a mega-hurricane began to form above them, the Ghosts of Retribution scattered the remaining heretic forces and retreated. The Chapter had suffered a humiliating defeat and it seemed all they could do was watch as the planet looked set to tear itself apart. Fortunately Master of the Forge Seran would not give up on Prothera so easily, and he modified an apocalyptic quake bomb into a airburst charge before launching it into the centre of the forming mega-hurricane. The titanic shockwaves of the exterminatus-grade weapon dissipated the forming wind patterns and bought Prothera a precious few weeks of clear skies. Over this period of time countless hundreds of chartist transports responded to the evacuation call, reaping generous payments in return for carrying away as much of the world's population as their cargo holds could take. In addition to this dozens of heavy transports from the Imperial Navy hauled away hundreds of thousands on a daily basis, depositing them on nearby Imperial worlds like Athena Prime and Karn Dereg. The Universe-Class Conveyor The Eternal Pilgrim carried over half a million Protherans to Templos in a single mighty exodus. By the time the climate had degraded so much as to make flying in atmosphere impossible almost half of the planet's population had been evacuated, but for those left behind there was little long-term hope as the storms worsened and the coming ice age approached. Over the next 6 years society unravelled on the planet. The former capital Auctumnus retained a sense of order under a cabal of former politicians, but they were secretly being manipulated to the will of the Chaos Sorcerer Ashkenor and his remaining Red Giants. Virilis devolved into a feudalistic state, with the Warlord Keighan rising to power through brutal force. Outside the major cities, PDF Commander and former Imperial Guard officer Justinian Maximus rallied his remaining forces (most of whom had refused transport off-planet as was their right as serving soldiers, giving their place to civilians instead) and travelled through as many outer settlements as he could. These minor cities, towns and villages had been unaffected by the invasion itself but as the climate devolved Justinian knew they would have to work together. After gathering millions of citizens to his cause of enduring Imperial control, Justinian led them into a vast mountain range where they were mostly shielded from the inclement weather. Here they constructed a new city, Lastum, around an ancient Imperial Guard fortress. As the situation grew worse in Auctumnus and Virilis, more and more fled to Lastum and Justinian's banner, and the military officer soon had the numbers and power of a major city in his hands. Friction grew over the years between Keighan and Justinian, whilst Auctumnus watched and waited. But just as it seemed that total war would break out between these factions that had only just reformed their civilisations, their salvation finally arrived in 332.M41. The Ghosts of Retribution had returned from Mars with the knowledge and components required to repair the weather cathedral, and under the watchful eyes of Veteran Astartes their techmarines and personnel from Mars itself restored the cathedral and Prothera's climate. As the weather cleared and the wider Imperium learned what had been happening on Prothera during its years of isolation the Administratum immediately aligned themselves with Commander Justinian, who desired reunification with the Imperium. Meanwhile the Ghosts of Retribution learned that Ashkenor had somehow captured the Eldar Farseer Adriel, and planned to sacrifice her to the chaos gods and summon a daemon portal that would plunge the newly saved world into horror and ruin. The elite Ghost Company infiltrated Ashkenor's stronghold and extracted the Farseer before the Sorcerer could go through with his plan, but as the Chapter Master himself led forces in attacking the stronghold Ashkenor instead sacrificed almost 2000 Protherans he and his lackeys had enslaved over the years. Sated with the blood of the innocent, Ashkenor was able to open a minor portal that allowed he and his forces to escape to the Grave in Subsector Tyranus, and escape the death they so richly deserved. Nonetheless Auctumnus was saved from Ashkenor's control and the cultists left behind were either destroyed or quickly abandoned their cause and quietly attempted to reintegrate into loyalist society, disposing of their weapons, flaying chaotic marks from their flesh and desperately trying to erase all evidence of their heresy (as much as 20 years later the Auctumnus Arbites still searches for former cultists, but so long as their former creed is not being preached it is an issue that will only last a generation). With Ashkenor gone the Ghosts of Retribution took their leave of Prothera as most of the populace held them in disdain for their failure to protect Prothera in the first place. Meanwhile Warlord Keighan was assassinated (presumably by the Vindicare Ceiron), removing Justinian's only remaining rival and making him de facto Planetary Governor. Over the following decades, Justinian consolidated complete control over Auctumnus, Virilis and most of the rest of Prothera, and with the support of the Administratum they began to rebuild their broken world. Though it wasn't until the mid-340s that even the private vineyards could resume exporting goods, with the planet-wide Agri production many years from restoration. 343.M41 - Pirate Raid Prothera is assaulted by a pirate raiding force, seeking easy pickings on the rebuilding world. The pirates' vessel was a cruiser-sized transport that specialised in planetary raiding, with a potent and extremely well-equipped fighting force contained within its cargo bays (believed to be the largest such force possessed by any single pirate ship in the Sector at over 4000 men along with support vehicles). The rebuilding agri-world was poorly defended, and minor settlements immediately gave in when confronted by the overwhelming firepower the pirates possessed (such as battle tanks). But as the pirates enslaved thousands of Protherans and began preparations to ferry them back to their ship, the Ghosts of Retribution arrived. Outclassed by the Astartes Vessel the pirate transport fled immediately. The Space Marines proceeded to make planetfall and assault the landing force. Realising they had been abandoned most of the pirates surrendered as soon as they ran out of places to flee, and the Protherans they had taken were saved. Ironically the pirates would then be enslaved by the very people they had attempted to take, and put to work by helping in the rebuilding of the damaged world. Category:Subsector Deus Category:Planet Category:Agri World Category:Imperial World